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@kate this is an awesome analysis! I will admit that I haven’t read the LOTR books (only seen the movies–I know; don’t attack me or something; I’ll get to them soon), and in the movies, we don’t see much of Eowyn and Faramir. There’s just one scene of them standing together. So I didn’t actually realize they were together until the internet enlightened me. 😛 I love what you said about all that, though! But I was thinking about Faramir in the third movie (idk if it’s like the book or not) where he goes into battle because his father requires it of him, and he tells his father something like “If I return, think better of me.” Wouldn’t you say that he still cares what his father thinks and is trying to earn his father’s approval? You made it sound like he’d totally beaten that in the second one. But I just recently watched the movies again, and Faramir was one of my favorite characters this time. His story is just heartbreaking. </3 I wish he was in it more.

I have another addition to make to this post. No, it’s not about LOTR, but it’s about women in fiction. I just read To Best the Boys by Mary Weber, and one of my favorite things about the story was that Weber didn’t just go with the strong woman stereotype. Yes, Rhen is a strong girl who wants to be a scientist, and she does end up defying society’s expectations of her and not just going with the man who represents oppression. But she’s not the only female character. Her cousin Seleni is there too. And my favorite part of the book was (slight spoiler) an exchange between Rhen and Seleni where Seleni says that she really just wants to be a wife and mother, and Rhen may not see that as something great, but it’s what she wants. And Rhen finally accepts that being a wife and mother is a good thing too. It’s really a beautiful moment in the book. Both girls are portrayed as strong and capable. One desires a traditionally masculine occupation while the other desires a traditionally feminine occupation (yes, I realize only females can be mothers, but I’m referring to the stay-at-home father role, which is totally acceptable and awesome), and Weber portrays both as beautiful. It wasn’t just a story about a girl who defies society and defeats the patriarchy and does everything a man can (though that was in there). It also shows that women following the more “traditional” role can be just as strong, and it’s just as worthy of a role for them to play. I’m probably more feminist than any of you guys in this discussion (not that I’m really feminist; I just lean toward social justice and whatnot, and I don’t think women should be oppressed), but I also just really want to be a wife someday, maybe a mother if I get over my fear of not being good enough with kids. And those are beautiful dreams too.